Thursday, August 16, 2012

DROP AND GIVE ME... 42?

So it's been a very long time since I've even visited the blog-o-sphere but I havent had much to say about in terms of my physcial fitness journey.

BUT GUYS! GUESS WHAT?!

I have something to write about.

Sara showed me this website where you train to do 100 pushups. It's actually kind of cool.

http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

Basically, you figure out how many push ups you can do, and then follow the chart on how many push ups and how many sets you have to do. You workout 3 days a week, they suggest monday, wednesday, and friday.

For my initial test and I did 25 solid push-ups. Because of that I started on week 3 instead of week 1. No big deal.

After two weeks of following the routine, I did another test and completed 40!  Today was my second day fo the week and the last set (as always) is a max set. My minimum to complete was 40 but they want you to do as many solid push ups as you can. I did 42. Pretty happy about that.

I can't imagine doing 100 in a row, but with enough training, I guess I could.

Anyway, I haven't lost any weight in a long time. I ride my bike to the gym every other day. I workout for an hour and ride home. I still eat pretty well; low carb and low fat. I really want to get below 200 and I haven't managed to break 210. I'm thining about changing my routines a bit. I've been doing some reading and it's given me some ideas.

I'll let you know if it works out. Ha, get it?

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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My engagement story...

So it's been a long time since I posted, way longer than I realized. I know I'd been putting it off because I was losing some steam with my weight loss efforts and I was kind of bummed about it. The good news is that by today, I've hit a new low... barely. 210.8 lbs. Hey it's somewhere. Anyway, I'm still plugging along.

But the biggest news in the last month is far more exciting and life altering than any weight loss program: I'm getting married.

I guess I'll start at the beginning.

I met Sara (in person) on April 25, 2010. We had drinks and eventually dinner at The Hopyard in Pleasanton. We shut the place down. I liked her so much I had to see her immediately so I asked her if she wanted to get a drink the next night. We did and it was awesome.

Fast forward almost two years and I decide I'm going to ask Sara to marry me. So I sorta plan it out for April which ends up being Spring Break and when we go to Alaska. In February I made one trip to my friend in the diamond business and all I had to do was wait.

So we plan Alaska and I think I'm going to propose on the first night under the Northern Lights in Fairbanks. Turns out that was a bust. So we head to Anchorage and stay there for a couple nights. I still want to propose under the lights but unfortunately, no lights. We make a last minute decision to bail on Anchorage and stay in Talkeetna for our last night as well as make a last ditch effort at seeing the lights.

When we arrive in Talkeetna, we sign in to the Talkeetna Roadhouse (awesome establishment) and then take in the sights of the town. All 6 of the ten "sights" that were in town, that is. The best sight was the Denali Brewery where we have some great beer and food. It was such good beer that we decided to get a growler of scotch ale to drink while we watch the northern lights later.

A few hours later, Sara isn't feeling very well so I sit and watch trailers on my phone and make a huge dent in the beer while she takes a power nap, at midnight. At 2am I wake her up and we walk towards the river so we can see the lights and I can take pictures and finally propose. We sit for 2 hours and watch the lights which are less than spectacular but still pretty cool. By 4 Sara is very cold and tired and insists we go back despite my pleadings of "maybe it'll get better." She's excited enough by what we saw so we go back to our room. When we get inside I know that I have about 60 seconds before she's changed and asleep. So I ramble on about how I wish the lights were better and more special for our trip while I fumble with my bag to get the ring out. She's trying to explain that she loved what we saw and everything was special. I say, "well I wanted it to be more special for this" and I turn around with the box in my hands. She looks at it and says "whats that?! where did you get that?!" I open the box and tell her that I love her and that I want to spend my life with her and will she marry me.

She obviously says yes and we spend the next hour talking about a whole bunch of surreal things that I barely remember because I was a little tipsy and it was super late and it was just a surreal experience in the first place.

So there you have it. We're engaged. It's pretty incredible. We're having a great time celebrating about the whole thing and talking about how we're going to do it. We've been getting tons of love and support from everyone we know. We're very proud and very happy.

Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

What do I know anyway...

In the last two days I've heard 3 different people (all female) talk about diets and by diets I mean ridiculous concepts that will have no real health benefits. There was one that invovled ingesting only yogurt and water for a week. There was one was another that involved overeating for 3 days and then dropping to 500 calories for a week. And then the ever popular Atkins/South Beach/grapefruit/Progresso Soup diets. While these discussions made me feel pretty good about my own healthy eating choices, couple of these discussions happened at school so I naturally felt the need to try and impart some extra dietary knowledge to my impressionable young lady students. I did my best to repeat all the knowledge I've accumulated over the years (which is way more accurate than the yogurt and water diet).
While I feel pretty good about the information I possess and practice, I can't help if I still feel a little uncomfortable about trying to use my own experiences as a basis for comparison. It's nice to know that I've been pretty successful at times but I also know that, overall, no one really has a reason to follow anything I have to say given that I'm not exactly the picture of health. Sure I'm doing better than in the past but do I really have any credit?
I mean I'm also the guy at the gym that looks at people using a machine wrong or some really improper form while lifting and criticize the hell out of them. I want to go tell them that swinging your whole torso while doing bicep curls is really bad form and they're not going to get the most of their exercise. But when I realize that guy has veiny biceps and a six pack, I go back to to whatever I'm doing because clearly he's doing just fine.
Speaking of just fine, I'm sore as all hell right now. On doctors orders, I had a two week rest from leg exercises while a strained tendon healed. As a result I spent two weeks weight lifting my upper body and doing very light cycling. My rest period was over last weekend so on Sunday and Monday I went back to circuit training. I did plenty of lunges and squats and I'm paying for it now. I can barely sit down or get up. Never again am I taking that kind of rest.
Despite being so beat up right now I'm glad to get back to the circuits. They were really helpful in the weight loss effort and I've not been able to really lose much this month. I think my last post was two weeks ago and i was all excited about breaking 213 and I haven't been back to that point until today. I've been marking the months as milestones and I'd like to hit a serious low by April 1. I guess we'll see.

Thanks for sticking with me.

I thought this was funny.
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212.9

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Surprises

As you may recall, I've been resting my legs this last week per my doctors instructions. The pain is mostly gone but when I squatted down today I noticed it again. I'm going to definitely listen to the doc and take it easy for another week.

The surprises that I'm referring to in the title of this post would be that I'm still losing weight. As I expected, i gained a little last weekend but as this week has gone on, I'm losing with my weight lifting routines. Another exciting tidbit is that my body fat machine shows my percentage is going down too. I'm never really sure how much I should trust the machine because the numbers don't seem to change too much but they did this week so yay me.

Another surprising aspect to this ordeal is that I've actually been eating a little more since I started weightlifting. You need extra calories to build muscle so, on my lifting days, I take in some more protein and carbohydrates. It's nice to not worry about it so much but it's still surprising that I'm losing. If anything I expected to stay the same if not gain weight.

I guess I shouldn't worry anymore.

Unfortunately I can expect this scenario this weekend.
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212.6, 24%

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Setbacks

I've had this pain in my left leg for about a week and on Friday it actually hurt to walk. So I went to the doctor and he thinks it's just a strained ligament. I probably messed it up doing squats or something like that and was in a weird/improper position.
So the doctor recommended that I skip any lower body workouts for about two weeks. I can still ride my bike but this restriction eliminates my circuits which I really like and have found to be pretty effective. I guess for now I'll go back to weightlifting.
I'm a little disappointed but this does force me to try to build muscle as a priority. It can only help in the long run.
Unfortunately, it means I've gained a little in the last couple of days. We'll see what happens in the next two weeks.

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215

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A day for compliments

The other day I got a couple of nice compliments from people who have noticed my progress in this healthy journey.
It made my day. Made my week actually since I'm still thinking about two days later. So thanks everyone.

Here's my recipe for my protein shake that I have after workouts:
2oz non fat milk
2oz orange juice
2oz acai juice
1/4 cup blueberries (frozen berries make it more like a smoothie)
1 scoop protein powder
Blend that shit.
It's approx 246 calories and delicious.

And here's something for your funny bone:
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Almost forgot, I already broke 214. Boom.
213.3, 24.9

Sunday, March 4, 2012

I hope I survive...

I have a problem. I'm a junkie. Sara is my dealer. The first taste was free and now I'm hooked. I may need rehab. Somehow I'm going to get this salted caramel monkey off my back. The real issue is Sara. How could she do this to me? We're working so hard to be healthy and she brings this poison into our home?! I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her for getting me hooked on this delicious, dairy smack.

The good news is that despite my brand new, horrible addiction, I've actually lost weight this last week. I've been a little off my weight loss game due a couple weeks of weight lifting which isn't very conducive to weight loss. Hopefully I gained some muscle in the process. This last week I went back to the circuit routine and it's been pretty successful. I broke 215 again and I'm hoping that by the end of the week I'll have broken 214.

Yay me.

By the way, here's a recipe for some kick ass crock pot oatmeal that Sara makes me and doesn't make me fat or raise my risk of diabetes. Sara adds 1/4 cup of flax seed meal, peels the apples, omits the extra sweetener, and puts just 2 tbsp of brown sugar. The time varies depending on your crock pot. We have a larger crock pot so it takes about half the time. And the biggest tip to give is to PAM the hell out of the inside of the crock pot. Like way more than seems necessary but you'll be glad you did.

http://forthemommas.com/cooking/slower-cooker-apple-cinnamon-steel-cut-oatmeal



And here's something so ridiculous I almost cried laughing at it.

"The stupidest thing Jesus has ever been spotted in."
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Update

There's nothing fancy going on, I just needed to make a quick update.

I had a slight hiatus from writing while I was out of town. I went to Seattle on friday to spend the weekend with friends before a memorial service on Sunday. It was obviousy a very sad event but the silver lining was seeing everyone together. It's been a long time since I was able to hang out with all of them since over the years we've spread out over a few states. I kind of felt a little guilty to be so happy.

On the weight loss/fitness front, the weekend was a little detrimental to my progress. I spent a lot of time sitting down (a 12 hour drive to portland and then a 3 1/2 hour drive to Seattle). In addition to the sitting, my diet was also out of whack due to drinks with friends and communal meals. So I wasn't surprised to step on a scale and see I gained a couple of pounds. The amazing thing is that after three days of being back on the program I'm almost back to where I was before I left. It's weird how that works. It's like a couple of days of exercise will flush out all the shit in your system and reset your body back to something normal.

I lifted weights on Tuesday and I'm still sore so that's a good thing. Hopefully I'm actually building some muscle after all this. Yesterday was HIIT and today was a leg day at the gym. If I'm not too sore then I'll go for some HIIT tomorrow morning. My last lifting day will be on Saturday and I'll go back to a circuit routine next week. I realy like weight lifting for muscle building sake but I still need to burn a lot of fat off and I found the circuit routines to be very efective.

So thats where I'm at right now. I think I'll be slowing down on my writing, maybe every other day since I'm not doing anything remarkable. I don't want o be super boring and write just for the sake of writing. I was thinking about sharing some recipes Sara and i have been enjoying as far as being healthy goes. We'll see.

Thanks for your patience and support.

You need to be a little nerdy for this one.



215.9, 25.3%

Friday, February 17, 2012

Duality




Dear Ellie,

I don't even know where to begin.

I'm sad. Confused. Worried. You had so much going on in your life and it's so hard to believe that you're gone. I'm glad that the time we spent together was spent laughing. If anyone I've ever met had such a spark of life in them, it was you. You were loud and honest and brazen and funny and fun and fierce. I swear it was only yesterday that I photographed your wedding. It was a great night.
I know you would appreciate the irony of the sadness associated with everyone coming together to celebrate your life yet, at the same time, being so grateful that we get to be together at all.
I suppose that's life, isn't it? Loathing the bad but loving the good that comes with it?
We love you. We miss you. And thank you.




Thursday, February 16, 2012

Status quo

I'm glad that I can use that title because the status quo for me used to be: work, couch, sleep. Since things have changed I've been busier and happier and more proud.

It's felt weird to be off the circuit because I'm not moving as much but I'm still losing weight so I guess everything is still working as planned. I say that because today I broke the 215 mark, barely. But when a year ago I was at 235, 215 is a pretty big deal.

And I'm still going.

This is a little on the extreme nerdy side but hey, so am i at times.

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214.9, 25.5%

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Today's battle with HIIT

I came home from school today and did HIIT on the treadmill. The sprints (well, sprints for me for the first time in forever) were pretty rough. I made it through the 15 minutes but I was SMOKED. Despite how exhausted I was, I'm pretty proud that I made it and I'm looking forward to seeing my improvements. Alternating between weights and HIIT seems like a pretty good plan. I think I can do this.

Here's something awesome.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

High Intensity Interval Training

Yesterday I promised a little intro into High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I had already done a little bit of research on it but here are a two more articles on the subject that I found to be pretty helpful (the Shape one was recommended by Sara).

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/fashion/03Fitness.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/8-benefits-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit

It sounds like a pretty incredible program if you can hang. I tried "the big baby" version yesterday on an elliptical machine. It's supposed to be a versatile program which can be applied to running on the street or a treadmill, a real bike or stationary, swimming, or even the low impact elliptical. As long as you push your limits in the exercise and then rest, it's supposed to be effective.
The plan is like this:
-pick an exercise like running
-warm up for a few minutes
-sprint for 30-60 seconds
-walk or jog lightly for 2-4 minutes
-repeat several times
It should last for about 20 minutes.

You're not supposed to do this multiple days in a row. You're body needs time to recover but it does say you can work it into other routines. I'm going to work it into my off lifting days. Once upon a time I was a pretty good sprinter. Maybe I'll bring it back.

The benefits are supposed to be incredible. Check out the studies in the articles. Your body is being challenged in a whole new way and you're building different muscles when you push yourself in the high intensity parts.

Miracles? Who knows. But at least it's keeping me active and interested.

Have a punny on me.

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216.8, 25.5%

Monday, February 13, 2012

Damn You Booze Part 2

So yesterday I started my new routine of heavy lifting. My last two weeks of circuit training went really well but I like to change it up a bit so I'm on to lifitng weights for muscle gain. I started yesterday because I want to get in three days of lifting this week before I go out of town on Friday (sad business, I don't want to talk about it). As luck would have it, yesterday was also the SF Beer Week event at Pete's. After reading up on booze and weight loss I started to wonder about booze and muscle building. SO I looked it up. http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_200/218_fitness_tip.html

As you would imagine, drinking and working out are counter productive in the areas of both fat loss AND muscle building. When you drink, a substance is produced in the liver that is toxic to testosterone. Testosterone is essential for building muscle so you shouldn't expect to build a lot of muscle if you drink while lifting. That sounds funny but you know what I mean.
In addition, alcohol can affect your bodys production of growth hormone. Apparently growth hormone is mostly produced during the early hours of sleep and since alcohol disrupts normal sleep patterns, you're not going reap the same benefits on your muscles if you drink. This makes sense if you've blacked out and still felt exhausted in the morning. And afternoon. And evening.
Finally the most obvious issue with boozing while in a lifting phase, recovery. If you're trying to build muscle, your body has to spend energy recovering from the muscle tissue damage you've done during your workout. But when you get shmammered, your body has to spend energy repairing that damage too so your muscles are going to take a back seat.

In conclusion, fun boozing is bad. If you can keep it to one or two then you're safe.  But if you're like me:
 "IT'S SO GOOD! ONCE IT HITS YOUR LIPS IT'S SO GOOD!"



Stay tuned tomorrow when I get into HIIT or High Instensity Interval Training. Sara's really into it right now and I think it's going to be my plan for non lifting days. I felt pretty good when I tried it today.

Until next time
Mad Jack

217.5, 25.3%

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A new pet peeve

Today while I was at the gym I discovered a new thing that people do that drives me insane: trying to monopolize more than one piece of equipment. More than once today, some asshole was on a bench with a set of dumbbells next to him while doing a bench press. He'd then get up and do something with the dumbbells. Or they've moved the barbell off the bench to do some sort of row exercise in between bench presses on another bench. It's pretty damned ridiculous. It's busy as hell over there; I just can't believe the balls on those people.

Anyways, let me tell you about something Sara does that I love. She makes stuff all the time and I get to try it. When I cook, I'm simple. Like, 3 ingredients simple. Sara will pull out everything in the freaking pantry on a whim. Last night she made "energy bites" which have peanut butter, oats, flax seed, chocolate chips, protein powder and some other stuff. They're delicious and have only 90 calories per "bite." I enjoyed them immensely. I'm sure I can get you the recipe if you're interested.

Last time I posted I mentioned the whole "booze-weight-gain" thing. I was irritated about my gaining of a couple pounds over the weekend after my boozing. As it turns out, I think my body has to just take a day or two to just get back in the swing of a regular diet and exercise because my weight went back down yesterday. And it went down again today so I think really what it does is just slow things down for me. If I didn't drink at all, I probably wouldn't have the stall in the weight loss process. Yeah, we'll see how that goes.

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216.8, 25.3%

Monday, February 6, 2012

damn you booze

Every Friday I slow up on my workout and relax with a few drinks and friends. Saturday is hit or miss depending on the particular weekend and Sunday is almost always a workout day. I keep gaining a pound or two afterwards so I looked it up the effects of alcohol on weight loss/gain. I already knew that if I quit drinking I would lose weight faster but I figured one night of a couple drinks wouldn't be so bad. Turns out that it's enough to screw over your body. There was study somewhere that said one night of binge drinking resulted in larger waist size for participants. Weak, dude.
I also learned some interesting details: alcohol is not stored as fat but rather the calories in the alcohol are converted to acetate and burned first for energy. What that means is that the food you take in shortly before or during the drinking ends up being stored as fat. So if the food you eat while drinking consists of a lot of fat or carbs, you could end up storing a lot of calories as fat. That's what happens to your body specifically regarding calories.
The other issues with alcohol are that it stimulates hunger so you're inclined to eat more and that if you're insulin resistant, you're more likely to gain weight from processed carbs such as alcohol. Apparently being insulin resistant means you're prediabetic and you can kind of tell by your body shape (apple vs. pear). Apple shaped individuals are more likely to be insulin resistant than pear shaped. Insulin resistant people are more likely to store abdominal body fat and pear shaped store it below the waist. So if you're stuck with this condition then you need to eat a low carb diet and those carbs should be low on the glycemic index. It's pretty complicated. Google it.

ANYWAY, my point is that in addition to cutting back on the frequency of drinking, I need to limit it to probably 3 drinks max which is pretty difficult considering there like a billion beer events coming up in the next couple of months. Guess I need to pick the best ones and skip everything else.

That's a bummer man.

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219.5, 25.4%

Thursday, February 2, 2012

"Oh yeah, don't drive on the railroad tracks!"

It was a lovely Groundhog Day. The morning was quite frigid, the afternoon was unseasonably warm, and the evening is now chilly again. The weather made for a great bike ride to the gym but a pretty cold one home. There was a headwind on the trail that seemed to only affect me and the grass.
I did another circuit today which I think has been working really well because the scale went down another half pound. I'm curious what will happen tomorrow. If it goes down again I'm doing this circuit thing all the damn time.
I'm a little nervous about the weekend again. I worked hard four days this week but tomorrow is Friday which is always my day off but I also have an excursion planned for Saturday. We're going to the release of Pliny the Younger at the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa. I really enjoy beer. And SF Beer Week is coming up so there are several events to check out. I suppose that's all the more reason to keep working hard, so i can keep enjoying these things.

Here's an example of my circuit routine if you're interested:
  1. bike ride to the gym (30 min) OR 20-25 min on an elliptical
  2. chest press machine- 15 reps (everything is 15 reps, these are all machines, max 15 seconds rest in between each)
  3. lateral pull down
  4. standing cable curl
  5. lateral raises
  6. seated leg curls
  7. seated leg press
  8. tricep extension
  9. seated leg extension
  10. pectoral fly machine
  11. seated row machine
  12. back extension
  13. decline cable flys
  14. abdominal crunch machine
  15. glute machine
  16. Rest for 3 minutes, repeat circuit.

Everyday is pretty much a variation of that same routine. I have to be flexible because the gym gets crowded and someone might be on a machine I need. I think I mentioned before that I'd like to do this with more free weights but it's just too busy.

"and put your little hand in mine..."

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Time to toot my own horn...

Today is one month after I began my latest, consistent effort to change my life around, lose weight, and get in shape. In short, the last month has been a great success.

Here's why:
Jan 1- 228 lbs, 28.3% body fat
Feb 1- 217.5 lbs, 26.3% body fat

(I'm assuming these numbers are accurate. I weigh myself on a digital scale that seems pretty consistent. I use the same body fat machine that they have at the gym which allegedly sends electrical pulses through your body and measures resistance to fat vs muscle, bone, etc I suppose I should go get submerged in a big tank sometime to be really accurate)

ANYWAY...

I got here by:
  • riding my bike to work at least 4 days a week (3 miles round trip).
  • riding my bike to the gym at least 3 times a week (9 miles round trip)
  • exercising at least 5 times a week, mostly at the gym
  • carefully watching what I eat
  • drinking alcohol only once a week
My gym routines consist mainly of the following:
  • bike ride to the gym or 20-25 minutes of cardio on a machine
  • (first two weeks) 60 minutes of weight lifting, 6-8 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps, increasing weight. Never do the same body area two days in a row.
  • (second two weeks) 60 minutes of weight lifting, 6-8 exercises, 3 sets of 15 reps, medium weight, no increase. Never do the same body area two days in a row.
  • (this week and next week) 40-45 minutes of circuit training, 1 circuit- 14-15 exercises( whole body), 1 set of 15 reps, medium weight, 10-15 seconds rest in between exercises.  Rest for 3 minutes at the end of first circuit. Repeat one more time.
My diet consists mainly of the following:
  • oatmeal (rolled or steel cut)
  • eggs
  • V-8
  • bananas
  • chicken
  • carrots
  • broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • spinach salad (red onion, tomato, dried cranberries, Gorgonzola cheese, bacon bits, avocado, homemade croutons, homemade vinaigrette dressing)
  • protein shakes (blueberries, 2-3oz OJ, 2-3oz acai berry juice, 2-3oz fat free milk, whey protein powder)
  • hummus
  • triscuits
  • pepper jack cheese
  • fish
  • chocolate milk
  • chocolate chips
In the last month I've had:
  • Chipotle.. twice? only a burrito as I've described it in earlier posts. Goddamn i miss those chips.
  • Pizza twice. Roundtable Pepperoni Trio. I had like four pieces and it was delicious. And the Tower Grille in Concord last weekend. I think it was good. I don't really remember. It was after the beer festival soooo... yeah.
  • Sushi... twice? Sushi Hanabi in Pleasanton is our favorite.
  • Pete's Brass Rail- 4 times for beers, definitely had food... a BLTA for sure with salad, Sara and i split a Todd last weekend which is a burger on sourdough with avocado, bacon, pepper jack cheese. And we had onion rings. That was a good night.
  • Had a couple of bigger breakfasts of bacon and eggs, toast, juice. no big deal.
  • I had frozen yogurt one time too.
I guess my point is that in the midst of all the hard work and consistent diet, I still managed to indulge a few times and remain successful. And I don't really feel like I've been missing out on much. I enjoy all the healthy food I eat on a regular basis even if I'd rather have a burrito or Mr. Pickles. I guess I just try not to think about it. It's all about mindset really. I just know that this is how it is and I'm ok with it. I look forward to the days when i can indulge but what i really look forward to is that morning weigh in when I see my efforts pay off. It's enough to get me through to the next weekend when I can have a couple of beers with friends.

I haven't set a goal yet. I don't think I should really. If I look up my BMI (which I think is kind of bullshit to begin with) I'm obese. If I lost 30 more pounds, I'd still be obese according to this scale. The only way I would be in a normal BMI range is if I was 150 pounds. I haven't been 150 since I was 13. That seems pretty ridiculous. So what I really want is to just be healthy and to look good (vanity is always a factor). I'm sure that would involve me being under 200 pounds with a much lower body fat percentage.
I did take a picture of myself on day 1 and then again today. The differences in the two are subtle. I'll post them when I feel I've really reached something to be proud of. Not that I'm not proud of myself now, just saying I've got a ways to go.

So I suppose that's about it. It's been a great month and I'm looking forward to seeing where the rest take me. If you've followed me since day 1, I thank you. It means a lot to me to have your support and inspiration. And thank you for reading. I know these posts aren't always super entertaining or informative but it's been a big help for me.

Until next time...



217.5, 26.3%

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Day of rest

My day of rest came at a good time since I had a dentist appointment today. 1 filling, 1 replaced crown. I have worst goddamn teeth. And I try so hard with the fancy tooth brush and the flossing... bummer man.

Tomorrow I go back to the circuit for two days and then off for two days. I looked up some new lifting regimens and I'm kind of excited to go back to lifting for real again. I may put it off if the circuit proves to be more effective than I anticipate.

Sara got free tickets to the Sharks game tonight. On the ice. Where the team comes out through the giant shark head. And they won 6-0.

Pretty nice little Tuesday. 

Today also marks the end of the first month of my "new lifestyle." I'll have plenty of thoughts about this tomorrow on day 1 of month two.

Stay tuned...


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219.7, 26.3%

Monday, January 30, 2012

Circuits

So yesterday I started a new circuit routine. If you're not familiar, circuit training is about going high intensity with little rest in between your exercises. My own self devised plan isn't as crazy as I've seen but I've been breaking a serious sweat so i feel good about it. I also have to deal with the people at the gym so I can't keep it as strict as I'd like. I use mostly machines, medium weight, 15 reps, about 15 seconds rest in between, and about 15 exercises. It takes 40-45 minutes. If there were fewer people at the gym I'd do more free weights but it's just not possible.
The weekend was fairly successful considering our trip to the beer fest in Concord on Saturday. I somehow managed to stay under 220 all weekend only to wake up at 220.5 today. I found this rather odd since i exercised on both Saturday and Sunday and didn't drink a thing on Sunday. I'm not stressing too much about it since I know it's easy to fluctuate a pound or so every day. I'm pretty confident in this circuit thing though. I've done it before and it worked pretty well in terms of shocking my body out of complacency. Guess we'll find out as the week progresses.
I think in a couple of weeks I'll go back to regular weight lifting. Should be a good change.
I ran into an old student at the gym today (and a couple of times last week). He was a chubby kid as a senior and he's really slimmed down and just trying to build muscle now. Funny because if I looked like that kid I'd be pretty satisfied. Anyway, he's working hard and noticed how often he sees me and thinks I'm working hard (which I am) so it's kind of cool to get another bit of reinforcement and validation. Having people notice really does add to the overall satisfaction of the efforts. I see the numbers on the scale change and my jeans are getting pretty loose but I don't really see it when I look in the mirror. Kinda that whole "watched pot never boils" concept. (wow, no sooner did I just type that sentence than the phrase appeared on Conan. Hweird.)

And with that, I bid you good night.


For my gamer friends
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220.5, 26.4%

Thursday, January 26, 2012

At the risk of sounding repetitive..

the gym is a terrible place full of mostly terrible people. Would you like me to elaborate? I'd love to.
  • there are day lockers for locking up your stuff. they're not for storing a coat. that's what the coat rack is for.
  • throw away your empty water bottle. have some pride in your facility, dick.
  • don't stare at people. it's creepy.
  • WHY ARE YOU WEARING A HOOD IT'S LIKE A THOUSAND DEGREES IN HERE HENCE ALL THE SWEAT ON YOU?!
  • the customer service should be somewhere between it's current abysmal level and the forced fake happiness at Safeway.
  • I thought about going back to school and getting a degree in nutrition or kineseology or sports medicine or something but I think those life paths turn you into an absolute douche.
  • FORCHIRSSAKERERACKYOURGODDAMNWEIGHTSINTHEPROPERFUCKINGPLACE
OK, I think I'm good now.

I'm going to a beer festival this weekend. I'm nervous about what effect this will have on my weight loss since drinking of any kind seems to screw me over for a couple of days. I'm going to exercise the morning of so that should help. I think.

I probably won't be back to the blog until sunday. stay calm and keep moving.

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219.5, 26.3%  <---- boo yah

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Keeping up the habit

I don't have a whole lot to say tonight. I'm mainly sitting here clacking away at my keyboard to stay in the rhythm of recording what I've done and how it went. For that reason i apologize if there's nothing terribly witty or entertaining in following sentences.

Today I was able to get out of work a little early and bike to the gym. I think this was the first day in 4 or 5 days that I was able to ride there. I was a little slower but I still made it fine and as always, the ride home is so nice because of the downhill. I've got a couple more days left in this type of routine I'm doing and then I'm going to switch to a circuit style next week. Gotta keep my body guessing.

I'm kind of in a rut with this whole thing. I'm keeping it all up but the "honeymoon phase" is fizzing out. In the beginning, as always, weight just drops because of water and the initial shock of consistent diet and exercise. Now, I'm slowing down and it's more of a mental struggle. My weigh ins are more stressful than before. I'm not quitting and I know this is how it all goes but it's still one of those difficult things you have to fight through. I'll make it, I guess I just had to write that down so I remember what today was like compared to the other days.

See you tomorrow.

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220.6, 26.4%

Monday, January 23, 2012

Feeling a litte woozy...

Sometimes I get these knots in my back that won't go away for a while. I actually went to the doctor once and he gave me muscle relaxers to take whenever it happens. It was almost scary how easy it was to get some drugs. Anyway, I took one before dinner and now it's after dinner and I think the 2 glasses of wine have enhanced the noted side effect of "drowsiness."

If I seem out of it, well screw you.

That 219 mark is eluding me. When you finish reading you can take note of my weigh ins Friday thru today. My weekend wasn't exactly raging but I somehow managed to gain 2 pounds and then lose them again. Mom might be right; I might be plateauing.

Funny story; I've been working out at a gym that I didn't be long to only no one realized it. You see in 2002 I lived in Dublin and joined Express Fitness in Pleasanton for 15 bucks a month. Eventually they opened a bunch of Fitness 19's in the bay area and I upgraded my membership so I could go to all clubs. The Fitness 19 in San Ramon was closer to me after I moved so I payed 19 bucks a month to not drive to Pleasanton. I've been going there ever since (sporadically). So the other day it occurred to me that I needed to update my address with Fitness 19 since I moved to Danville in August. When they girl behind the desk started looking for me in the system, she couldn't find me. Apparently Fitness 10 and Express Fitness
parted ways" and I only belonged to Express Fitness since I joined there. I hadn't even really noticed my membership dues went down to 15 per month. I guess if I had investigated I would have figured it out sooner. So I was still working out, I was still paying 15 bucks a month only I was working out illegally at one place while paying the other the correct amount. Hweird. In the end I switched everything around so it's all good now. I was a little nervous though; I thought Fitness 19 might want to charge me more but I think he had to match the original price.

Also, the next day, Sara and I went to the gym together and got her signed up so now we're gym buddies. Or more like carpool buddies since we don't technically workout together. Either way, buddies.

So I went to the gym on Friday, rested Saturday (aside from the little walk we took with Molly), an then gym on Sunday and today. The last three visits I was unable to ride my bike to the gym because of the weather but I think I'll be able to ride the rest of the week as the weather is looking up. I was anxious about the cardio portion at the gym because I don't like the hamster in a wheel feeling you get from being on a treadmill or elliptical. But every day I spent a little more time on a machine and felt just fine. Today did 30 minutes on an elliptical at a 6.0 pace and felt pretty good. Heck, I may have to try real running one of these days.

So that's about all of that. I'm nodding off here in my chair. I need to sleep. Second semester starts tomorrow. We're halfway to summer vacation. aww yeaah.

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Friday- 220.2, 26.6%
Saturday- 222, 25.8%
Sunday- 222, 25.8%
Monday- 220.8, 26.9

Friday, January 20, 2012

Well that was anticlimactic.

Didn't go down. The one day I start bragging is the day I stay the same.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Milestones

If all goes as I'm expecting it to, tomorrow I'll weigh in and be under 220lbs. The only time I remember weighing myself at other points in my life was in jr high when I wrestled. I was 155 in 7th grade and 165 in 8th. I have an old license that says 185 but I think I made that up. Anyway, the point is that I don't remember the last time I was under 220.
It's a weird milestone, I guess, but I'm happy about it. I'm celebrating the baby steps it takes to get to... well I don't really know where I'm going. I would love to be under 200 again. That must have been... 10 years ago? I don't really know.
And I'm fully aware that the number shouldn't be that important but more so the body fat ratio and how you feel about yourself and your cholesterol and being able to outrun zombies but lets face it, if I were happy about being 5'9" and 220lbs, I'd be a beast of a man. So since I'm not, I'm just going to keep going until I'm happy and then maintain. I know I can do that. I've maintained a certain weight for about a year. It's always been the losing fat and being in shape part that sucks. But I'll get there. It's going really well and I look forward to every day.

Here's something punny

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220.1, 26.4%

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I'm still sore...

I did some lunges yesterday and my butt cheeks are feeling it. Guess I need to do some more of those so I can fulfill my dream of being an ass model.
Another bike ride to the gym today and another solid workout. I definitely think the switch of routines is going to do me some good. I'm ticked it's supposed to rain tomorrow since I won;t be able to ride to the gym but at least I'll be able to still go to the gym early due to finals week. It's a rough gig distracting teenagers with "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" so I can grade in peace and quiet. Friday will be the best when I only have one class and can finish grading before noon. And I'll be able to go to the gym on a Friday for once.
I caved and had Chipotle for lunch today. I went with my usual semi healthy burrito, no chips and guac even though I love them. And dinner was just a salad to make up for my large lunch. It's been surprisingly easy to keep this up. I know there's a serious motivation involved but living with Sara and sharing the desire for healthy food in the house seriously helps. We kind of keep each other in check aside from the occasional baking episode when we have to pawn off treats on other people. She bought (ground) flax seed the other day which is something I've always wanted to try. It's super good for you and isn't a big thing like a plate of veggies; you add a tablespoon of it to something you're already eating like oatmeal or a salad. It's supposed to have a nutty flavor so I put in on my oatmeal this morning and didn't even taste it. Fine by me. And we check each other on the workouts too. We're always looking things up online and talking about our routines and looking for ways to fit them in when time is short.
The weather taking a turn this week is definitely a downer since she doesn't like a treadmill and is hesitant to run in the rain just like I don't want to ride my bike in the rain. But if I have to drive to the gym then I will. I'll suffer through cardio on a stationary bike and elliptical machine. Just more time for me to listen to Harry Potter audio books. I'm coming up on the end of "The Chamber of Secrets" so I'll have to find something else soon. Anyone have "The Prisoner of Azkaban" on CD?

Speaking of...
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220.9, 26.5%

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Temptations...

On Tuesday nights Katie Finegan organizes people to meet at the beer bar in walnut creek for game night (and beer). I've been avoiding it since I love beer and have been trying to only drink it on Fridays when I go to Pete's. Well after too many missed Tuesdays, we went tonight. And I drank water. It was like being a heroin addict and sitting around a bunch of people shooting up and being like "nah, I'm good with some pot." Or something like that.
Either way, I didn't cave.  I didn't even look at the menu until we were about to leave.

Exercise wise, today was productive even though i was feeling pretty beat after school. The little buggers pushed me quite a bit today but the rest of the week should pass pretty smoothly.  I rode to and from school because I was able to leave a little later than usual so it was only in the 30's instead of the 20's. I made it to the gym after work and I'm feeling a little tight afterwards so I'm betting I'll be sore tomorrow. The soreness is a good thing. It means that I'm working things in a different way and my body isn't bored. It's about time to change things up at the gym anyway. The last two weeks have been working in 3 sets of 10 and increasing weight each set. Now I'm starting a routine of 3 sets of 15 of the same weight. I did this before and it keeps me interested at the gym and shocks my body out of complacency. I'll probably continue for about two weeks and then try a circuit routine for maybe two weeks.

My numbers went down again so my screw up over the weekend really did set me back a few days. I'm going to be more diligent and not let that happen again. Some people think the daily weigh-ins can make you too obsessed but I'm finding that it works pretty well for me. I need the numbers to go down for a variety of reasons, the most obvious one being my health. And since the numbers are important, keeping track every day is a motivator. If they don't go down, I'm motivated to figure out why and fix it. I should have been doing this my whole life. But maybe I just wasn't ready for it.
Or something like that.


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221.4, 26.5%

Monday, January 16, 2012

A case of the Mondays

Actually my Monday went quite well. A simple breakfast followed by a freezing walk (it was 35 degrees at 10am), followed by video games. I did a bunch of chores around the house including cleaning up a bunch of broken glass created by Boba which was a reminder of why I didn't want a cat in the first place. But i like the little guy so it's just another reason to keep the counters clean.
After cleaning up the house I rode to the gym which went very well considering how cold it was. I had a good workout and rode home in the still freezing weather. This time I was more prepared for the cold. I had my stabby north face jacket, a long sleeve shirt, and a pull over cycling shirt. I found both the north face and the cycling shirt on the ground at two different times and two different places. The jacket has holes in the back which is why I call it the stabby jacket and why I only use it for riding in the cold.
Later in the evening I went to REI and bought a new seat for my bike. It's way more comfortable than the original one and is more ergonomic for all my internal anatomy. Given my family history, my prostate needs all the help it can get. I'm looking forward to my next ride to the gym.



I'm writing from my phone in bed so I don't have my numbers in front of me but they went down from yesterday so I feel good.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Long weekends make for fewer posts

Friday worked out like it usually does: drinks with friends after school which continued on at our house. As I've previously stated, I love the relaxation of a good Friday.
Saturday wasn't terribly exciting in the fitness world as I only walked to school to pick up my bike and ride it home. The rest of the day was spent watching the 49ers inch their way towards their first championship in years and then having friends over for dinner. I made beer can chicken on the BBQ which was accompanied by grilled zucchini, pasta salad and Brussels sprouts. And then Sara broke out her homemade ice cream and gelato and everyone forgot about our delicious dinner. If you've never had Nutella gelato, you're seriously missing out. I made sure I only had about 3 bites and forced myself to return to my cleaning.
As lazy as the last few days were, today I was terrified to step on a scale and exhilarated to return to the gym. This morning my fears were semi confirmed when I had apparently gained back 2 pounds. I say semi confirmed because everyone fluctuates a little day to day but I'd be lying if I said this didn't bug the hell out of me. So I was raring to go as we took Molly on a short walk before we went to Mom's for breakfast. I ate my fair share because I was going to bike to the gym from Mom's house ( a mere 1.4 miles) and then ride home after my workout.
The gym a little busy for a Sunday and several people were staring at the Baltimore/Houston game. Amongst the regular gym rats was a stranger who looked like one of the fitness models you see on infomercials. She had a serious tan which was probably of the Jersey Shore variety rather than the tropical island type because it was just too even to be natural. I only mention her because while I was changing plates on a bench I noticed her in the little back hallway flipping her legs up against the wall in a handstand where she proceeded to do a few hand stand push ups. Not the free standing, "Jackie Chan" style, but impressive never the less. While I didn't perform any wild feats of physical fitness myself, I had a solid day of lifting weights followed by a freezing ride home. It's way colder today than it has been and I was way under prepared; all I had was a cheap sweatshirt to protect me from the biting wind. Still, the cold must have been extra motivation to ride hard and get home fast because I worked up a serious sweat despite how noticeably downhill the ride is.
Much to Sara's dismay, I have the day of tomorrow in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr Day. I'll probably celebrate the beauty of civil rights by playing video games, riding to the gym again, walking the dog, and indulging in my favorite semi healthy meal; a Chipotle burrito. I'll no doubt have some chores set on me by Sara who will want me to make the most of my day off which, of course, I'll be happy to do.
I'm definitely looking forward to this week at work which is finals week. Since I don't believe in giving a final, I won't have anything to grade so my days will be short and sweet leaving me plenty of time for exercise. Things are looking good.
Thanks for reading.

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Friday- 221.6, 26.8%
Saturday- 221.3, 26.1%
Today- 223.9, 26.0%

Thursday, January 12, 2012

I did nothing all day...

and it was everything I remembered from 3 weeks ago. Well, I worked and what not but I didn't exercise. I'm pretty sure I needed a day off despite the anxiety it created for me. It doesn't matter that I ate well for every meal, I still got anxious about not exercising. It's one of those obsessions that once you get going you feel every little thing is going to ruin your progress. Fortunately I'm part Vulcan and my logic always takes over and reminds me to not freak out because one day of no exercise won't screw up two weeks of effort. I'd feel worse if I ate a few pies and drank a few sodas but i didn't do either of those things so I think I'm good.
I started the day off right by figuring out a little concern I was having the last few days. I've mentioned the body fat machine I use every morning? Well as you can see by looking back at my posts, my body fat percentage was going up every day for the last 4 days and I couldn't figure it out considering my weight was still dropping. I was terrified I was somehow destroying muscle somewhere or had cancer or something crazy. As it turns out, I never changed the weight setting on the gadget so it was reading for someone at 229lbs and not the weight that I was actually at. So I changed it and now the numbers make sense. Duh.

I need to mention something about inspiration. This blog thing apparently isn't just good for me because lately I've had several people tell me that I've inspired them. I can't tell you how good that feels. I never thought I'd really have people following this stuff; I figured it would be just me typing away daily and trying to come up with something that wouldn't sound completely stupid while I logged my progress. The fact that my friends and family are taking me seriously has made this concept of inspiration a sort of reciprocal process. I am inspired by you being inspired by me. It's extra responsibility and extra motivation; I can't let anyone down now. This story has to have a happy ending or rather, a successful journey.

So thank you everyone for your support. It means a lot to me to know you're out there, watching and waiting to see what happens next. And that's not as creepy as it sounds.

Have a chuckle on me:
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221, 26.9%

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Small Successes

I finally tried a green tea I liked. I'm sorry it wasn't one of the fancy ones from Peet's or Starbucks but instead it was a cheaper one from the grocery store that Sara brought me from work. It's really authentic. Just look at all that Asian stuff on the box. Asians drink tea, right?
I hope it's really healthy for me other wise it's kind of a waste of time.

Another small accomplishment today was the resisting of free cinnamon rolls and donuts. I had a meeting today and when I sat down there were two plates of cinnamon rolls on the table and I just stared at them, for a long time. They smelled delicious. Then another coworker came in and brought donuts. She set those down in front of me too like the devil himself had whispered in her ear to tempt me.
But I resisted. Even though the first hour was incredibly boring and had nothing to do with me, I just sat and drank my tea. Even when the growls from my belly started coming, I said "Fuck you, delicious treats. Not today." I waited until the trail mix and salsa and carrots and hummus came out before I ate anything. I was very proud of myself. Lunch was a home made soup from another coworker which was excellent and then I had one chocolate chip cookie and a bite of an oatmeal raisin. It could have been worse.

You see, I have a problem with food. Well, free food to be precise. I don't know what it is but when I walk by the staff lounge and there are goodies laid out for no good reason, I have to grab something. Sometimes more than one something but several somethings. And when we get a catered lunch or breakfast on a teacher work day, I'm all over it. Sometimes the food isn't that great so I don't really care to eat a lot of bad food and those are the good times. The bad ones are when the moms on campus make all this crazy stuff that I can't resist. I just love food. I also have those unhealthy attachments to it that make it so difficult to ignore the craving. If I'm having a bad day then I want to go and get the biggest burrito I can find with some chips and guacamole or a Mr. Pickles sandwich or popcorn chicken and then sit and watch The Big Bang Theory or Star Wars or play video games. I want to do all the lazy unhealthy things to make myself feel better. It's rough changing those habits and feelings. Over the years I've been fairly successful at keeping those binges to a minimum but it's like being an ex-smoker; every once in while I still get the craving to eat a pepperoni pizza and then play COD for 6 hours.

Speaking of pizza, Round Table just came out with a new pepperoni pizza. It looks amazing.
Triple Play Pepperoni
I need to gather about 8 people to come have one so I can eat one slice and not be stuck with left overs.

But I digress... I drove to the gym today instead of riding so i could do a leg workout and still make it home in a reasonable time. My legs have been kind of tired lately and I'm wondering if riding every day hasn't given them enough time to heal up. So tomorrow I'm going to drive to school and then do very little for the rest of the day. I think I need a day of rest anyway. My plan is to just ride to and from school on Friday and then I'll go back to the gym on Saturday. It feels good to have a plan. And I love it when a plan comes together.



220.8, 28.9%

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Two douchebags walk into a gym...

Ok there are WAY more than two douche bags at any gym. The place is literally full of them. I've seen guys check their skin in the mirrors, flex in the mirrors, dance in the mirrors, and demonstrate their favorite choke hold on each other. Going to the gym is the biggest hassle of any fitness routine. It's necessary but if I have to step around a group of teenage bros doing more talking than lifting or a trainer and his client IN EVERYONES WAY WHILE SHE DOES JUMPING JACKS ONE MORE TIME I'm going to lose my mind. I must be some kind of masochist because I'm going back tomorrow.
Stop watching before the 3 minute mark but this is kind of funny for local news. I particularly like the part where he's sliding the yoga mat.
http://www.wciu.com/youandme.php?assetID=10004438&assets=videos&section=home

Over the weekend I downloaded a fitness app, 5 out of 5 stars. It's called MyFitnessPal which is a stupid name but it's fairly useful. I originally wanted to just check the calories in whiskey (Jameson- 69cal/oz) and people kept stating in their reviews that this app had the best food database out of all the other calorie tracker apps. Today I decided to try and use it to track my food intake. I used one of these apps a while back and found I was consistently under my calorie goal so I figured there was no point in continuing. This one, however, asks you your age, height, weight, weight goal and exercise habits and then suggests a calorie goal for your day. You enter in all the food you ate, water you drank, and (the best part) the exercise you completed and it calculates everything for you to let you know how well you did and where you could be if you continue with the same habits as that day. Apparently I can weigh 203.3lbs in 5 weeks if every day was like today.
The food database is indeed very extensive. My favorite feature is the bar code scanner which pulls up the item, serving size, and nutritional info. You can also make a recipe for your meal if it's a more custom thing. My salad tonight, for instance, wasn't going to be in the database so I made the recipe and now I can use it again for future logs. I also made a recipe for my protein shakes and a snack I like which consists of nonfat yogurt, crushed almonds, blueberries and honey. It's kind of a hassle to make the recipe but I think it's worth it once you're done. The one thing I don't like about the recipe feature is you can't edit the recipe once its done. If I want to make the recipe again with spinach instead of butter lettuce I have to do it all over again. Regardless of the little flaws, I'm going to use it more and see how it goes.

Todays summary:
Bike ride to and from school. (3 miles)
Bike ride to and from the gym. (9 miles)
Weights (chest and triceps)

How about a little positive affirmation for the day?
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222.1, 28.6%

Monday, January 9, 2012

The COD Workout

Seeing as how I went to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday I decided that today would be a lite day for activity. I rode to and from work (which is a regular habit again), I did chores at home and then employed the ever versatile, COD workout.

"What is the COD Workout?" you might ask.

Good question. COD, stands for Call of Duty, the ever popular video game. You see an individual such as myself who enjoys the occasional stint on the couch for multiple hours can easily become a lifeless lump on said couch, like this guy.


So I have developed a way to include physical activity into my video game time. It works like this:
  • An average round of COD online is about 7 minutes (10 max).
  • There is an intermission between rounds that lasts a minimum of 1 minute.
  • When the round ends, you get off your ass and do something active. Anything except going to the bathroom or getting a snack will do.
Today, in my first intermission, I did 60 seconds of jumping jacks. I played a round and did 60 seconds of high knees. The next intermission was filled with hip raises which look ridiculous so I was happy to do them with an audience of only the cat and dog. Another was a 50 second plank because I couldn't go the whole minute and still another involved push ups and crunches.

Now this workout is definitely not high intensity and I didn't even break a sweat, but it's a hell of a lot better than the step down which is only getting up to pee or the worst case scenario which is hours of sitting and snacking. It's also effective because yo only have to work for 1 minute every 7-10 minutes so a lazy person can easily complete it. And if you end up having an extended gaming session, you can do a lot of different exercises and, I'm betting, feel sore the next day.

Personally, I feel good about not being completely sedentary, but giving myself enough rest so I can go to the gym tomorrow. I also had healthy food all day today in acceptable portions. Yay me.

Here's a buff squirrel.
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223.3, 28%

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Burritos: friend or foe?

I had numerous food gatherings this weekend. It's weird how humans have evolved to be social with their food. It's like this odd excuse to hang out. Like in Good Will Hunting when he points out that they might as well eat caramels as get coffee because they're equally arbitrary activities. I suppose it's because food usually makes people happy so we figure we should at least get something good out of the interaction if the company sucks. And if it doesn't then we have two things to be happy about.
In other news, in addition to the other free equipment we're getting from Sara's dad, we'll also be getting one of his old spin bikes (which Sara is really excited about) and possibly an elliptical machine from my cousin. We both like the elliptical machine better than the tread mill so major score for us.

 There's been an article going around on Facebook about the worst meals to get at your usual restaurant chains. I knew one of my favorites was going to be on there but I wasn't worried because I don't eat that particular option. Chipotle's steak burrito always shows up on one of those lists because it's a massive meal. If you get everything they offer you plus guacamole and a bag of chips, you're looking at almost 2,000 calories which is what a lot of people need to consume in one day. The reason I don't (usually) feel bad when I indulge is because my burrito choice has been carefully crafted to be just the way I want it for both flavor and nutrition. When I first tried Chipotle I didn't like it very much because the rice and sour cream were always really cold which meant that my entire burrito was cold by the time I got it home and no one wants a cold burrito. So I eliminated those ingredients and I was happier about going when my friends wanted to go. Eventually I decided to "slim down" my burrito so I skipped the beans too which I've always just accepted as a necessary ingredient to any burrito but never really cared for in the first place. I also began to add lettuce which gave me more greens. And one thing Chipotle has that I really like that a real Mexican food place usually doesn't have are the fajita veggies (sauteed green bell peppers and red onions). After all that editing, it's one of my favorite meals and the nutritional facts look pretty good:
tortilla- 290 calories
chicken- 190 cal
veggies- 20 cal
salsa- 20 cal
cheese- 100 cal
lettuce- 10 cal_____
burrito - 630 calories [48 grams of protein, 24.5 grams of fat (10 sat fat), 50 g carb]

So yeah it s a lot for one meal but when you're counting calories then you can work it into your daily intake, no problem. The real issue is when you have friends that want to go to Los Pericos and you know you're not getting out of there for less than 2,000 calories. That's a day for a few extra push-ups.

In the mean time I'm eating oatmeal and fish and spinach salads and non fat yogurt with blueberries. All in all I can't complain about my eating habits because they're pretty good and I'm not feeling like I'm missing out on anything. As much as I like burritos and burgers and big ass sandwiches, if I eat those things all  the time I feel gross so I just don't.

And the biggest success of all: today I rode to the gym, and my ass didn't hurt a bit.


Here's a little something to make you chuckle.
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224.1, 27.5% (btw for those of you keeping score at home, in case you haven't figured it out, I'm weighing myself every morning and measuring my body fat with a little machine that they use in gyms)

No beer on a Saturday night FTW.

Real quick because it's late and I'm sleepy and posting from the blogger ap:
We didn't hike or go to a rock gym or do anything exciting today. We went on a long walk with Molly, did chores and ran errands. I priced some fitness equipment at wal mart but it looks like we're getting some free stuff from Sara's dad do I'm pretty stoked about that.
After errands I went to the gym and had a good workout. I got home with just enough time to shower before we went out with friends to Livermore where I put my self control to the test: we ate at the First Street Brewery and I ONLY DRANK WATER! It was exhausting yet satisfying. After that we went and saw a cover band called The Spazmatics who were really good.

Pretty nice little Saturday. And we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We had time.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Rule #32: Enjoy the little things.

As I sit here on January the 6th of the last year the earth will exist, I am at my computer in my "office" of the palatial, 50 year old, 4 bedroom house we rent in serene Danville. I am drinking my 6th beer of the evening after enjoying food and beers with an all star crew at Pete's. Like a true clairvoyant, I actually listed these misfits in last nights post: teachers, non teachers, and Mom (who is also a teacher).

I was worried about today. I was worried about the fact that i wasn't going to exercise in the formal sense. I was worried I wasn't going to eat as healthy as I would considering my patterns of the previous 5 days. But the fact is, a body needs days like today. Everyone needs a day to indulge, a cheat day. Without them we go nuts and regress farther than acceptable and eventually into our old way of life. I know this from experience.

You see before I met Sara, I spent 5 months on a quest to better myself. I was "living the dream," as it were. I lost about 11 pounds and benched 250 and was feeling superb. I did this while still enjoying my Fridays. Then I met this incredibly beautiful and fun woman who changed my life and I forgot about needing to fix myself because she loved me for who I was and that was more than enough to feel good about me.

Unfortunately, that was only temporary. The euphoria wore off, as do most new things, and I'm back to remembering what I needed for myself.  As wonderful as I feel about my relationship, I still know I need to be happy with where I am as a person. There is, however, a certain extra sense of confidence that comes with being in a solid relationship and it definitely makes me feel better about the journey. Sara is my navigator and I'm hers so we know we can make it together.

We've already discussed our weekend which will be filled with activity and friends and food and fewer drinks than tonight because that's life. Life is enjoying the little things. And while on this journey I'll be damned if I can't enojy them from time to time.

Here's your moment of Zen:
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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Today is not very special...

I didn't do anything especially exciting today. I rode to work in the cold which, I suppose, was an achievement itself. My cold weather gear held up and i didn't go into hypothermia or even feel incredibly uncomfortable. Well, my butt is still sore but that will go away eventually.
But that was the extent of my exercise. I'm not really happy about it since I know tomorrow will be a lazy day (riding to work aside). I guess that's one of the difficult aspects of the beginning of change, accepting the lesser days. Its amazing how I can beat myself up while sitting on the couch and then workout for three days and still beat myself up for not working out on the 4th day.
I did accomplish something else though. I checked out the new Sports Authority in Dublin and found out that kettle bells are kind of expensive. When I'm done here I'm going to shop a little online and see what I can find. I'm hoping for a dollar per pound. Maybe 1.50. They should really sell them like produce.
I don't think I'll be posting tomorrow night. Fridays are the only night I'm allowing myself to drink because I love my Fridays with the teacher crew (assuming they show up to Pete's). Sometimes the Friday crowd morphs into non-teacher friends which is always fun. And sometimes it ends up being a really big night where it's teachers and non teachers AND my mom! Everyone loves mom. And they're all so impressed when she orders the double rum and coke.
I am however determined to make the most of my weekend. I'm sure we'll get in a big dog walk and probably hit the gym. I was thinking about going to a rock climbing gym or someplace with a wall. I did it years ago and it was fun and it's something active to do. Or maybe a hike. People love hiking. Maybe we'll give that a shot. Except I'm always paranoid about cougars (the feline kind, not the Danville mom kind). And people are always getting killed while hiking. It's like hikers are some sort of tasty live bait. Maybe we'll skip the hike.

Here's your daily dose of Internet spawned silliness:

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223.4, 28.4%  (as of this morning).

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

It's a good hurt

I'm still sore from several days ago but now I'm sore from yesterday, just in different places. The good news is that my ass bones feel better than they did this morning so I'll be able to ride to school tomorrow (yes in my tights).
I made it to the gym again today after school. I like riding my bike to the gym because it takes care of the cardio portion of my day but I figured I'd give my butt the rest it needed and drive there. I pushed through 20 minutes on the elliptical machine and spent an hour lifting more weights. I generally hate cardio at the gym because it's so damned boring. They have TVs but I get so distracted by looking around that it's kind of dangerous. I would be so embarrassed if I was the guy who got taken out of the gym on a stretcher not because of a heart attack but because I was so busy gawking at the weird lady with  no bra doing bad lunges that I lost my balance and fell off the elliptical machine and got clubbed unconscious by the spinning foot thingies.
Actually, I hate several things about the gym but the biggest thing would have to be the people. It's full of teenagers who want to socialize, bros who want to impress each other, girls who just want to show off their little bodies, and any other number of douchebag and there are entirely too many of them in one small space. I want a specialized gym for my kind of workout environment. You know how women can go to Curves or Butterfly Studio or whatever? I want to go to Grouches where it's full of cranky, middle aged men who don't want to talk to each other but rather nod to the guy at the counter, possibly make eye contact with another member for the sole purpose of that "are you all finished here?" look, and then get the hell out. Sounds like a solid business model to me.
I've been using the website Pinterest a lot lately as a resource for silly pictures and fitness ideas. The problem with Pinterest is that the users are mostly female so all the fitness stuff is usually pictures of fitness models or other skinny bitches titled "thinspo" which is short for "thin inspiration." Apparently all that matters to the majority of the female Pinterest community is to have ripped abdominal muscles or protruding pelvic bones (both which I kind of find gross). On occasion there will be something other than the cheesy motivational poster or anorexic girl that I actually find useful but I would love a similar site with better information. I like the format of Pinterest because it's so visual that I can scan through a lot of images at once and see right away what looks useful. Any ideas?
I'm also thinking of trying to drink green tea. I'd always heard it was a good thing but I saw a lot online this evening reaffirming that notion. I don't really like tea in general but if I learned to drink V-8 simply for the health benefits then i think I can force green tea down too.
Jesus, it's late and I still have to shower. Goddamn lifestyle is consuming me. But I had to kill some time while I uploaded Harry Potter audio books to my computer/iPhone.
Speaking of:
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225, 29%  (as of this morning)

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

so beat up right now.

Evening folks.

I'm tired. Very tired.

After the bittersweet end to my jury duty this morning, I came home with plenty of time in the day to do almost anything I wanted. By the way, my epic battle with jury duty ended because the judge called a mistrial. I never even spoke. Just waited around until today to be sent home.
Anyhoo, I didn't think I was going to get in a good workout today but as it turned I did. I decided to act like a crazy person and ride to the gym on only me second day of being back on the bike. My ass was sore from yesterdays riding (all 3 total miles of it) and I figured why not ride 9 more today. So I rode to the gym, worked out my upper body for an hour and then rode home. It was pretty rough.
As you can imagine, I've never been an avid cyclist. Or a big athlete. Or in any kind of good physical condition since I was 16 and even then it wasn't anything to brag about. So 9 miles broken up with an hour between sessions was quite a bit for me. Add in the workout and I'm feeling pretty good about my efforts today. Tired, but proud I made it.
I know plenty about working out. I've taken multiple weights classes in my time and read lots of articles online and in magazines, (my main issue has always been sticking to it) but when Lauren Von Dett of SRVHS/Hooters fame suggested I try the kettle bell swing, I found myself in the dark. So I googled it and realized I had seen it before so it shouldn't be too difficult to do. At the end of my workout I grabbed a 15lb kettle bell and made like the pictures. It wasn't very heavy but I needed to start somewhere. My legs were still sore but the activity felt pretty good and it was kind of fun. Lauren is in pretty good shape (as Hooters would demand) so I figure she knows what shes talking about. I can't imagine doing the 200 reps she does, but that's why she's rocking the six pack and I'm rocking the "marshmallow man". I'm looking forward to getting a kettle bell or two for the house.
The other new exercise I tried out for the first time today was the "plank". I've never tried it before but it's everywhere in the online fitness routines so it seemed like a good idea. I found a "plank challenge" where you increase your time every two days or so, beginning with 5 seconds on the first day and ending with 60 at the end of the month. I felt pretty good when I could go for almost 20 seconds before my body shook too much. All these years of sucking in my gut must have helped.

This is the kettle bell swing (duh). I raised the bell over my head which is another variation.


This is a plank.


Not to be confused with "planking"


Or "owling"??


The internet is a weird place.

No weigh in today. Tomorrow morning.

Monday, January 2, 2012

The beginning...

Yesterday I did some calisthenics. Jumping jacks, push ups, that kind of thing. I did quite a bit of them apparently because I'm sore today.
I also felt extra motivated after my first blog post and supportive words from my friends. So when I woke up at 7:30 to my natural alarm clock (Molly whining to go outside and check for varmints under the deck), I was raring to go. I said to myself  "Self, lets get up at 8 and get this shit moving!" So when I woke up again at 9:15 I was kind of pissed at myself but I made it happen. I had a healthy breakfast, rode my bike to Trader Joe's to pick up a couple things and then took a 3 mile walk with Sara and Molly. I got Sara wrist and ankle weights for Xmas so she was excited to try them out.
After a snack and a rest, we ran a few errands where I made a few investments in my healthy lifestyle: new comfy shoes and some cycling tights to keep me warm on my short rides to work when it's freezing balls out. We also found a display model Xmas tree at target which we got for about 75% off, less than 40 bucks. When we got back back I left Sara to make us dinner like a good little woman and tried out my new tights. I'm not excited to say I'm wearing tights (under my gym shorts mind you) but I am excited to not have numb legs. I rode to school and back which is about 3 miles and they seemed to work just fine which means I don't have anymore excuses to not ride to and from work.
There was a healthy dinner of salmon and salad followed by 4oz of fat free chocolate milk. It's a simple dessert and enough to satisfy that sweet craving.  The rest of the evening was spent feeling good about myself as Sara and I watched the 2 part series "Neverland" we DVR'd from the SyFy channel. It was kind of...ok I guess.
So all in all I felt it was a pretty good start to my new lifestyle. I would be really excited to get up tomorrow and do it all again except I have to go to fucking jury duty. AGAIN. I better be done tomorrow. Four days of this nonsense is enough to make a man go anarchist.

Here's something punny.
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Good night folks.

225, 28.7%  (somethings off there)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

It's not a resolution...it's not...at all.

     I'm not a "new years resolution" person. I've never made any in the past and I'm not going to start now. What I have always done is make inconsistent efforts to change myself for the better no matter what time of year it is. Maybe I exercise more, maybe I drink less and eat better, and maybe those things last a week or 6 months or what ever but the fact remains: they never stick. That's a problem.
     Recently, while on a walk with Sara and my dog, I had what alcoholics refer to as "a moment of clarity." I realized what other people already know: those things I mentioned can't be phases, they have to be a lifestyle. The way I live has to change. My past and present habits have been mostly sedentary. Sure I walk the dog and ride my bike to work (well I did before it got too cold in the morning. See what I mean?) but aside from those small things, I sit around a lot. My job allows me to sit around a lot. When I think too long about it, it's maddening so now I'm going to something about it. I'm going to change my lifestyle from sedentary to active. And what better way to aid me in this quest than jump on one of the biggest technology bandwagons there is: the blog.
     This blogging thing is a new tool to help keep me accountable. I have heard about other people using a blog to track their progress and routines and what not so I figured I'd adopt the practice. There's thousands of programs out there for tracking your calorie intake and workouts and planning meals but I think what I need is much simpler than all that. I think I need to just track it all in one place, day by day, list what I did and when I screwed up and it's all public record. It sure can't hurt.
     Don't worry, there's not going to be a lot of whining about how sad I am because it's swimsuit season or awkward photos of me in my underroos. This is about information and change for the better. And as the title says, it's not about trying; it's about doing. So follow me if you want; offer me advice, suggest resources or information or inspirational stories. But please, don't give me those stupid motivational posters like this:

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(unless you're joking)

That shit is just plain stupid. Instead, give me something useful like this:
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I've never seen anything like this before. Good stuff for new runners. I can use that.

So that's it until tomorrow. I appreciate your support and time if you actually come back to see what's new. Thanks for reading and Happy New Year.

228, 28.3%